I recently got my hands on the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 and all I can say is WOW. The instrument separation, the bass, the highs, the EVERYTHING about these headphones are amazing! My friend got herself a pair of Beats by Dre Studios and insists that they have higher definition than my ATH-M50 just because they have the word "Studio" and the name "Dr. Dre" pasted on them while completely ignoring the fact that the ATH-M50's are the flagship of Audio-Technica's "Studio Headphones" line.

How should I try to enlighten her about ACTUAL headphones and get her to drop the belief that Beats by Dre contain 1337 hax that make them better in every way to other headphones?

I haven't tried this myself but if the graph from HeadRoom that I posted below is to be believed, the Beats should be unable to produce any frequencies below around 15Hz. So just play her a 10Hz sample and this should prove to her that the M50 has 'higher resolution'. The M50 should play this kind of frequency without any problem whatsoever and produce a nice physical sensation of rumble.

I haven't tried this myself but if the graph from HeadRoom that I posted below is to be believed, the Beats should be unable to produce any frequencies below around 15Hz. So just play her a 10Hz sample and this should prove to her that the M50 has 'higher resolution'. The M50 should play this kind of frequency without any problem whatsoever and produce a nice physical sensation of rumble.

I somehow doubt that she'll be convinced. She might say that the frequency isn't music, and ask to hear the difference when actual music is played.

Yes, I can see how the frequency correlates to music but in terms of convincing her, it doesn't look likely.

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Originally Posted by Spinlight

Hey, Head-Fi

I recently got my hands on the Audio-Technica ATH-M50 and all I can say is WOW. The instrument separation, the bass, the highs, the EVERYTHING about these headphones are amazing! My friend got herself a pair of Beats by Dre Studios and insists that they have higher definition than my ATH-M50 just because they have the word "Studio" and the name "Dr. Dre" pasted on them while completely ignoring the fact that the ATH-M50's are the flagship of Audio-Technica's "Studio Headphones" line.

How should I try to enlighten her about ACTUAL headphones and get her to drop the belief that Beats by Dre contain 1337 hax that make them better in every way to other headphones?

Do you really have to convince him? If something sounds better or worse to him, so be it.

*her

And I want her to be able to hear her music in the fidelity it should be for the price the headphones are. But thanks for being realistic about it, though!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jupitreas

I haven't tried this myself but if the graph from HeadRoom that I posted below is to be believed, the Beats should be unable to produce any frequencies below around 15Hz. So just play her a 10Hz sample and this should prove to her that the M50 has 'higher resolution'. The M50 should play this kind of frequency without any problem whatsoever and produce a nice physical sensation of rumble.

Well, she's going for celeb endorsement, in this case a celeb who produces music. That logic isn't too bad, really. If she likes Dre's music, then certainly it strengthens the argument for purchasing Beats. On top of that, there's style, and there's noise cancellation--these can all be good things to the average consumer.

Telling her that the M50s are flagships doesn't sway the vote much. I mean, take Skullcandy for instance. Most of us don't think very highly of their products (with the Aviator being one exception); if you said Skullcandy's flagship headphones are good because they're the flagship, I'd just go "meh". Similarly, if your friend isn't familiar with Audio Technica, or only with their budget range, then the whole "flagship" argument is pretty ineffective.

Putting aside price and aesthetics, one headphone is only better than another for 1 of 2 reasons (or both):

1. It measures better

2. It sounds better

I'd wager your friend doesn't care about graphs. So unless you play stuff that sounds noticeably better on the M50 than the Beats, or show her that:

a. Dre is not a good producer of music

b. Dre is a good producer of music, but didn't really have a hand in designing/tweaking the Beats

c. Dre himself doesn't use the Beats as advertised (as a studio headphone)

d. Better musicians or music producers use the M50, perhaps even prefer it over the Beats

...Then you don't have much of a chance.

At the end of the day though, you might be better off not trying to win the argument. She's already bought the Beats--proving that she wasted her money will only make you look like a jerk.

Is she blonde? They're extremely hard to convince! Jokes aside... I'm a business student and have taken some marketing courses (if this is convincing enough for you).

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they have higher definition than my ATH-M50 just because they have the word "Studio" and the name "Dr. Dre" pasted on them

Tell her Monster Beats is in business to make money, no... Lots of money, and they will do whatever they can to pull gullible people like her (no offense) into buying their "sugar-coated" products. In order for them to make a big profit, they'll have to use cheap parts and then sell them at high prices. How will they justify that high price? They'll use words like "Studio" and endorsed by "Dr. Dre" in order to get people to buy them. Had they NOT said "Studio" or "Dr. Dre" then Monster will not be able to justify their prices. In other words, you're mostly paying for the cool factor and not the sound quality. There are other headphones that have better sound quality for less the price, but this is because they aren't endorsed by some celebrity, hyped up, or marketed well enough to sell it for more. Because of this, people don't think they're "cool." Companies these days have to make stuff look cool in order to sell at higher prices. Now with the higher prices, there is a placebo effect going on. Expensive = better sound quality. This is what Monster wants.

If she's trying to resist, tell her a business "marketing" person told you this. A marketer's job is to get people to buy their products. They'll use words like "best in the world," "endorsed by [some celebrity]," "Premium," or even get people to talk about how awesome their product is when they themselves have never used it (they're paid). Tell her to put herself in a marketer's shoes. If she wanted to sell her product, wouldn't she have done the same? I know this sounds cruel, but all we care about in the end is the money. We need uninformed and gullible people to make our money.

Finally the final blow. In reality Dr. Dre doesn't use Monster Beats in his studio. Monster Beats was designed for consumers, not for studio professionals.

Disclaimer: Marketing is everywhere. I'm not saying everyone should stop buying products with high profit margins because they feel cheated via marketing. Rather, consumers should understand there are marketing forces behind a product before making a purchase. ie. I'd rather buy Monster Beats while being aware of the marketing forces that went into it than buy Monster Beats because I was controlled by marketing. Unfortunately trying to escape marketing 100% is almost impossible to do.

Can she still return them? If she can, try and show her that she can have amazing cans like the M50's that sounds just as good if not better for less then half the cash.

If she can't return them, drop it. She just shelled out $300 for those headphones, and she's happy. If you somehow managed to convince her that she made a mistake and waisted her money, what good would it do? She's just gonna feel bad. Why would you do that to a friend, just to feel better about your M50's? And who knows, she's clearly not an Audiophile, maybe the Beats even sound better to her. Live and let live and enjoy what you have imho lol.